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Definition of 'Greek Cypriot'

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Re: Definition of 'Greek Cypriot'

Postby supporttheunderdog » Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:15 am

Get Real! wrote:
Gasman wrote:Have just been reading that you are not strictly a Greek Cypriot unless one of your parents is Greek and the other is Cypriot?

Change your sources because you've been reading a lot of bollocks lately!

A “Greek Cypriot” is just a label or classification if you like, of Ottoman origin. In the eyes of the Ottomans there were just three types of people on Cyprus…

1. Eastern Orthodox were regarded “Greeks”.
2. Muslims were regarded "Turks"
3. Catholics were regarded "Latins."


Good point: I am persoannly of the view that the labels Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot are at least partly misleading, less so for the so-called Turkish Cypriots, where I understand it is likely many can trace are descended from the 16th Century invaders, but possibly more so for the so called Greek Cypriots, probabaly few of whom have ancestors who came from Greece, I suspect the "GC side" in particular, are more likely to be decended from those who have lived in Cyprus for 10000 years, or so. I understand the Greek written lanhguage probably only really took hold in the period around 400 BC, not following the alleged Mycenean invasion some 800 - 1000 years before.

The Orthodox Church only came along in 363 AD or so, due to political reasons, when imposed by the Byzantine Emporers.

I suspect the emphasis on the Greekness of the GC and Turkishness of the TC is to a large extent a modern myth used to promote particular policies such as Enosis or Takism, and divide and rule by the Brits.

For the avoidance of doubt I am not seeking to denigrate the Culture of either the Greek speaking or the Turkish speaking Cypriots.
What i would suggest is however to promote the unique Cypriotness of the Cypriot peoples., which has been suppressed by mainly outside influences.
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Postby repulsewarrior » Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:36 am

...we are turcophone and/or grecophone, and until the Modern Age, the dwellers lived as villagers, isolated, sustaining highly socialised communities through cooperation. the idea that we are "Greeks" or "Turks" was important to the subjugators who did not identify equally with each other as "motherlands"; Cypriots as a people were dismissed. because of Lord Byron and his dream, Greece followed, so too Turkey, and today we continue to resist the changes which come after that era...

Greek Cypriots like the Turkish Cypriots are Persons; as mutually exclusive groups they see themselves as one, in a unity that sustains in each their identity. however as a State, these Nations remain a part of something bigger, they can only demonstrate together, as Individuals a conviction for Universal Principals.

as such, Maronites and Romes, as well as Bulgarians and Armenians, are equally entitled to qualify their Cypriotness, so too Sri Lankans, Lebanese, and Russians some day sooner than we think, which may form communities that leave a Heritance that lives and thrives.
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Re: Definition of 'Greek Cypriot'

Postby Piratis » Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:46 am

supporttheunderdog wrote:
Get Real! wrote:
Gasman wrote:Have just been reading that you are not strictly a Greek Cypriot unless one of your parents is Greek and the other is Cypriot?

Change your sources because you've been reading a lot of bollocks lately!

A “Greek Cypriot” is just a label or classification if you like, of Ottoman origin. In the eyes of the Ottomans there were just three types of people on Cyprus…

1. Eastern Orthodox were regarded “Greeks”.
2. Muslims were regarded "Turks"
3. Catholics were regarded "Latins."


Good point: I am persoannly of the view that the labels Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot are at least partly misleading, less so for the so-called Turkish Cypriots, where I understand it is likely many can trace are descended from the 16th Century invaders, but possibly more so for the so called Greek Cypriots, probabaly few of whom have ancestors who came from Greece, I suspect the "GC side" in particular, are more likely to be decended from those who have lived in Cyprus for 10000 years, or so. I understand the Greek written lanhguage probably only really took hold in the period around 400 BC, not following the alleged Mycenean invasion some 800 - 1000 years before.

The Orthodox Church only came along in 363 AD or so, due to political reasons, when imposed by the Byzantine Emporers.

I suspect the emphasis on the Greekness of the GC and Turkishness of the TC is to a large extent a modern myth used to promote particular policies such as Enosis or Takism, and divide and rule by the Brits.

For the avoidance of doubt I am not seeking to denigrate the Culture of either the Greek speaking or the Turkish speaking Cypriots.
What i would suggest is however to promote the unique Cypriotness of the Cypriot peoples., which has been suppressed by mainly outside influences.


You don't know the history of our island good enough.

Greece is a nation made of several 1000s islands (including 100s of inhabited islands). If you assumed that "Greece" means just "mainland Greece", then you are making a wrong assumption. Cyprus is no different than any other Greek island. The ONLY difference is that the self determination of the people of our island was denied by foreign imperialists who wanted to keep the Greek nation divided and Cyprus under their control in order to serve their own interests.

We don't need ancestors coming from some other part of Greece, because Cyprus is Greece, and part of Greek world even thought it was forced to be a separate country.

The equivalent would be if I wrongly assumed that England is just London and based on this faulty assumption I made the argument that Liverpudlians are not English because their ancestors didn't come from London.

For the Greek civilization Cyprus is not merely a destination, but one of its origins.

In Cyprus we used the Cypriot syllabic script to write Greek from the 12 century BC. We couldn't use the Greek alphabet back then because it hadn't been invented yet. In fact some very notable scientists claim that it is the Cypriots who invented the Greek alphabet to write their own (Greek) language in a time when the mainland Greeks were illiterate people living in the dark ages:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 151297.php

Our "Cypriotness" can not be suppressed by our "Greekness". Thats the same as saying that your "Englishness" can suppress your "Londoness".

In Cyprus we have ethnic minorities just like every other place. The problem is not our "Greekness" but the fact that certain imperialists use the TC minority on the island as their pawns to serve their own interests.
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Postby repulsewarrior » Mon Nov 22, 2010 6:17 am

Piratis, very well said.

...we chose to demonstrate a way of life which is BBF, how is this possible without identifying things which make your clear and valid way of thinking anathema to such a result? now it is important for States to identify the Nations which they sustain. on this island we sustain many whether it is a choice or not.

i have said it before, i support a Unitary State as well, but i can't imagine it being "Greek". I support National Assemblies and territorial Jurisdictions island wide over which they represent their electorate as Persons. minorities in this case can receive from a majority the Goodwill that demonstrates respect and recognition.

am i a traitor because i want no part of the Proxy War being fought here, that although i am a Greek by origin i love my village and my island more? does my desire to see the Turkish Army leave, indeed all troops, have a less or more important significance when compared to someone who is Turkish Cypriot?

...but even before the Greece you speak about Piratis, there was a Cyprus and although like in that Age we were transformed, so too this Age transforms the world with our abilities at social-exchange. Cyprus can choose to defend ethnospheres in this context, we can hope with these efforts to defend a language like Greek from extinction.
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Postby Piratis » Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:40 pm

I understand what you are saying rw, but we need to draw the line between the truth about our past and the choices we make for our future. Manufacturing history to fit our current political agenda is not something I am fond of.

For example, recently, during the celebrations for the 50 years of the Republic of Cyprus, I heard Christofias saying something like "all Cypriots contributed to the struggle of independence". This might sound nice and unifying, but it is just not true. The majority of Cypriots, just like all other Greek islanders, fought for liberation within one united Greek nation, not for us to have a separate and "independent" (controlled by UK and Turkey) Cyprus. And the Turkish Cypriots didn't fight against the British at all, on the contrary they collaborated with the British to defeat the Cypriot revolution. No, I am not saying that Christofias should keep reminding people of these facts, but he doesn't have to lie either.

We can choose independence, and we can compromise and accept a form of federation. And since we have a separate country we should indeed promote what serves the interests of our country. But there is no need to lie about the past.

Trying to manufacture some "Cypriot Ethnicity" wouldn't even help. This could make all Cypriots the same in terms of ethnicity, but we would still have a minority of people who would have a different language and religion. Are we also going to invent a Cypriot religion and a Cypriot language? I doubt. The solution to our problem is not to force everybody to become the same (this is not even possible), but for certain foreign Imperialists to stop exploiting the differences by promising to the minority unfair gains on the expense of the majority.

Therefore trying to manufacture some "Cypriot ethnicity" not only doesn't solve our problem, but on the contrary it makes our problem worst, by dividing the Greek Cypriots in 2 and alienating the rest of Greeks. This is exactly what our enemies want us to do.
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Postby kurupetos » Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:34 pm

It's time to drop the derogatory term Greek and replace it with Hellene, because the former is closely related with Graeculus (used by the Romans for Greek slaves).
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Postby denizaksulu » Mon Nov 22, 2010 3:10 pm

kurupetos wrote:It's time to drop the derogatory term Greek and replace it with Hellene, because the former is closely related with Graeculus (used by the Romans for Greek slaves).



Hi Helen! Dikannis reh Gurubetos?
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Postby kurupetos » Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:08 pm

denizaksulu wrote:
kurupetos wrote:It's time to drop the derogatory term Greek and replace it with Hellene, because the former is closely related with Graeculus (used by the Romans for Greek slaves).



Hi Hellene!


8)
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Postby denizaksulu » Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:21 pm

kurupetos wrote:
denizaksulu wrote:
kurupetos wrote:It's time to drop the derogatory term Greek and replace it with Hellene, because the former is closely related with Graeculus (used by the Romans for Greek slaves).



Hi Hellene!


8)


Typical :evil:
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Postby kurupetos » Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:43 pm

denizaksulu wrote:
kurupetos wrote:
denizaksulu wrote:
kurupetos wrote:It's time to drop the derogatory term Greek and replace it with Hellene, because the former is closely related with Graeculus (used by the Romans for Greek slaves).



Hi Hellene!


8)


Typical :evil:


How about 'Thank you for correcting me'? :wink:
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